


Truth, for silence or naught.

by dandelionboys



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: M/M, old romance for old fools
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-30 04:44:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3923395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dandelionboys/pseuds/dandelionboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One-shot of two fools, on a quiet day in a quiet base, with a quiet pair of feet in the evening sunlight.<br/>For love, or for whatever else they want.<br/>Dance away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truth, for silence or naught.

**Author's Note:**

> Listen to Truth by Balmorhea. A beautiful song that inspired me to write this suddenly.  
> All mistakes are mine.  
> Enjoy nonetheless.

“No, no! Left foot, liebling. Nein, your other one.” The man laughed and stumbled over his partner, graciously stepping back a few inches and adjusting the other’s hands on his waist.

“Stop laughin’, some of us aren’t made out for this, y’know?” The other man grumbled out, nonetheless twitching his fingers into a more comfortable position. He closed his eyes, drawing his back up as a breath filled his chest to puff out with what had been left of his pride.

The man’s steel eyes glittered as he watched him gather up his courage, and a soft smile was granted over his thin lips and a feeling clenched lightly at his chest. He allowed himself a brief moment to run his thumb over his other’s hand, affectionate and warm despite the chill of the wooden room and the dimness the evening light brought through the dusty window that overlooked the desert.

“Again.” The other requested, and watched his feet as he held onto the man’s white coat, quietly concentrating on the steps to the faint music tinkling away on the old record player.

They danced around the room slowly, slightly offbeat to the piano and violin, but the growing smile on the older man’s face grew and radiated with a sense of unmistakable happiness.

“You are doing it, look at you!” He laughed and his partner couldn’t help but smile nervously, stumbling slightly as he took the moment to look up.

“I suppose… I’ll never be quite as good as you, though. You need someone a bit…”

“Agh, no.” The man interrupted him midsentence, running his hand over the other’s neck, and scratched the back of his hair lightly. It curled and his wide grin softened, his eyes mulling over the second set. They drooped and threatened to look back down at the floor as he feared. Ah, such an unmistakable lack of self-confidence. “No, I would never wish to dance with someone else.”

The other sighed, and shuffled forward the other few inches to close the gap between their bodies. They were warm, and himself slightly sweating, but neither quite minded. He dropped his head onto the shorter man’s shoulders and mumbled quietly, wrapping his long arms around him and taking a fast hold.

“Vas? Say that again, I did not hear you.”

It looked as if it caused the man physical hurt to pull away slightly and swallow the thick lump that had formed in his throat. “I’m sorry.”

Blinking, the other shifted slightly and tilted his head. “Whatever for?”

It took a moment for him to reply, his tongue thick with anxiety and worry. “I… want to be a better partner.”

He was confused. “You are a fine partner. You have been nothing but willing, and you are learning so quickly?”

“That’s not, I mean…” He huffed, and tipped the hat on his head back to look the man in the eyes, shame filling his own rapidly. “You’re so… you. Fancy, regal, with your white coat and bein’ a doctor, and you walk with your head held high so you really oughtta find someone at your… level. Not some ‘disgusting pissman’ like me. I can barely meet anyone’s eye. Barely an Australian, I am.” His eyes finally fell to the floor, chest falling as the weight of what he said sank his back down as if there was an anchor tied to his heart. It tugged him down, the want to sink down into a puddle heavy and real.

The older man looked at him in something akin to disbelief, which shifted to understanding and sadness as he watched him shrink into himself. “Liebling...” He gently grasped the man’s wrist, only to have it tugged away meekly. “Mein Liebe, listen to me. Nein, look at me do not stare at the floor. The dust hardly requires your attention as much as I.” He grabbed the other’s hand more firmly, intertwining their thin fingers together and moving him closer. The hat was tugged off and discarded onto a wooden chair, leaving only the man’s flattened hair and all too expressive eyes that shone with wetness. It pained the older man to see it.

“You listen to me close, yes? You are my partner in both dancing and love. I want no other, only you. The man you see at work is only just that. It is my profession that requires it, you and I both know this, and I am no more or less of one than yourself. No disgusting pissman are you. Just a man.” He drew off a red glove and settled his warm palm on the man’s cheek, running his fingers over the man’s lips and light stubble as he spoke. “So schön, ich bin so glücklich…” He trailed off into the quiet, the record having stopped and spinning uselessly in circles.

“What’s that mean?”

The older one looked up and smiled, drawing his partner close to kiss him in the silence, lips chapped and worn from smiling. Their hearts pumped as any humans would and they felt the other against their skin, so very human. He drew away only after a moment, and looked at his curious eyes. “Ich liebe dich. You are so beautiful, and I am so lucky.”

The man relaxed a little and a flush worked its way up his cheeks and to the tips of his ears as each made to be closer in warm arms. Letting out a breath, he allowed himself to close his eyes and bury his forehead into the white collar of the man’s coat, enjoying the still moment the war had given them this day.

Muffled only by the heavy fabric, the man gave a quiet reply.

\-----

As the noise of insects and turning disks gradually filled the empty room, a third man blew out some smoke, softly shutting a door and locking it to leave the two in private.

“Such luck to have found a love in such a place as this.” He murmured out into the empty hallway as the sun hid away beneath the horizon and left its cool greys upon the walls.

He smiled and set a still empty film reel into his pocket.


End file.
